Augury.—Passing now to Italic religious ceremonies, we may notice the archaic bronze statuette of an augur (No. 102), whose function it was to draw omens from the aspect of the heavens or the flight and cries of birds. He wears a cloak drawn veil-wise over his head, a common religious garb, and in his right hand holds the lituus or curved wand used for the ceremonial dividing of the heavens into quarters. In connection with this statuette mention should be made of an early Greek inscription (No. 103) in the bottom of Cases 95-96. It was found at Ephesus, and is probably of about the same period as the statuette, the sixth century B.C. It gives rules for drawing lucky or unlucky omens from the flight of birds. The principal signs are the flight from right to left or vice versa, and the raising or lowering of the bird's wing.
Shrines.—In Cases 100, 101 a series of terracotta shrines is exhibited. They were doubtless for household use, employed in much the same way as modern images of the Madonna. No. 104 (fig. 33), from the early Greek settlement of Naukratis, in the Nile Delta, shows Aphrodite within a shrine supported by figures of the Egyptian god Bes, a characteristic combination of Greek and Egyptian elements. No. 105, from Amathus, in Cyprus, is also semi-Egyptian in character, and shows a deity surmounted by a winged solar disk. Another shrine from Naukratis (No. 106) contains the sacred Apis-bull of the Egyptians. No. 107 is an example of a shrine containing a baetylic image, that is, a stone worshipped as sacred. A cone resembling the one here shown was worshipped in the temple of Aphrodite at Paphos in Cyprus. In front, a small lead model shrine (No. 108) of later date, from Sardinia, represents Aphrodite just risen from the sea-foam and wringing out her hair. The circular shrine (No. 109; fig. 34) is of Roman date, from Eretria in Euboea. Its form and more especially the indication of overlapping scale-plates on the roof remind us strongly of the famous temple of Vesta at Rome.
Fig. 34.—Terracotta Model Shrine (No. 109). Ht. 4 in.
In Case 101 is a bronze tablet with an iron chain and staple (No. 110). The tablet, apparently of about 200 B.C., is inscribed on both sides, and seems to give a list of statues of deities, some, such as Vezkei, peculiar to the Samnites, others, such as Ceres and Hermes, of widely spread worship. It is a most important monument of the Oscan dialect, a language spoken by the early Italic tribes whose chief centre was the mountainous country above Campania. It was found at Agnone (Bovianum Vetus) in the Samnite territory.
Votive Offerings.
A votive offering is a present made to a deity, in order to secure some favour for the future, to avert anger for a past offence, or to express gratitude for a favour received. This last purpose includes offerings made in fulfilment of a vow, the vow being a kind of contract between the individual and the god. This comes out most clearly in the Roman expression voti reus—"condemned to pay a vow"—applied to those whose prayer had been granted, and who now had to fulfil their promise made in time of stress and difficulty. Votive offerings cover the whole field of life, and may include persons, lands, buildings, or objects specially appropriate either to the god or to the person who makes the dedication.
Very frequently the vow was made by some person stricken with disease, and it is to such a cause that we owe the numerous votive offerings representing some part of the human body.
The constant streams of these offerings made the ancient temples depositories of all kinds of objects, ranging from jewels of great price and high artistic merit to the roughest terracotta figure. In the Gold Ornament Room (Case 19) is a magnificent gold pin of the Ptolemaic period inscribed with a dedication to Aphrodite of Paphos, showing that the offering was the result of a vow made by Eubule, the wife of Aratos, and one Tamisa. Overcrowding led to periodical clearances of objects of the least intrinsic value. To prevent things dedicated returning to the uses of common life, they were frequently broken and thrown into heaps. This accounts for the masses of débris, consisting chiefly of terracottas and vases, which have been found within the precincts of great sanctuaries.